The Town With Pep! (A Riverdale Season 3 Fanfic)
by SofiaIdea
Summary: WARNING: THIS CONTAINS SEASON 1 AND 2 SPOILERS! The story is about a town, once wholesome and innocent, now forever changed by the mysterious murder of Jason Blossom... This fanfiction is about what I would like to happen in Riverdale Season 3. Join me as we explore the town with pep! Told from multiple character's POV. Cover made by
1. Chapter 1: Betty

"Archie Andrews, you're under arrest for the murder of Shadow Lake resident, Cassidy Bullick." Sheriff Minetta said forcefully, his two officers grabbing Archie's hands; handcuffing them.

The whole gymnasium exploded into a buzzing of murmurs. Everybody seemed to be just as confused as I was. Archie did not murder this man, and that I was sure of. I looked over at Jughead, and the shocked expression on his face did not help me calm down. I held his arm, and he looked down at me, gaping. I'm sure my reflection mirrored his.

"What?" Archie asked, looking at us. "I didn't kill him!" He said, putting on a confident front, but I could tell he was taken aback.

Veronica looked like she was waiting for Minetta to start laughing and say, "Just kidding guys, it's all a joke!" by the way she was glancing anxiously around the room. He didn't. Ronnie looked at me, her mouth dropped open, then looked at Archie, then looked at me, and then her eyes landed on someone else.

"You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law..." I heard Minetta distantly in my head, but my focus was on what- no, who Veronica was looking at. With his dark black hair, eyes, and suit, he blended in well with the shadows so that no one could spot him. I squinted. Now that I was focused on him, I could see him clear as day. The oh-so infamous Hiram Lodge.

Veronica and I exchanged a look as Archie was being taken away. My grip on Jughead tightened. Archie kept looking at us, his face confused and scared. His eyes seemed to plead with us. _I didn't kill him!_ They said. _You know I didn't kill him! What's going on?_

 _I know, Arch. I know you didn't kill him. Me, Jug, Ronnie, we know. We're going to get you out of this._ My eyes said back.

I glanced back over at Mr. Lodge. He slightly nodded at Archie, such a small gesture I hardly noticed it. His eyes were dancing and a smirk was tugging at the corners of his lips. He turned around slowly, walking into the shadows, leaving me wondering if he was ever there at all. Maybe I'm just going crazy.

Principal Weatherbee's voice snapped me back to reality. "I need everyone to stay calm and stay seated, we will dismiss you momentarily. The rest of the day has been cancelled." He hurriedly walked away, either not noticing or not caring that no one was staying seated.

"What," I asked to Ronnie, my voice urgent. "was your dad doing here?" I already knew the answer, but I needed confirmation.

Ronnie opened her mouth, but Jughead spoke first. "Wait-" He said. "Hiram _Lodge_ was here? Just now?" His gaze became frantic as he searched around the room, holding onto me as if he could shield me from all the evils of the world.

"I-I saw him." Ronnie stuttered. "He didn't even notice me. I don't think he knew that we saw him." Ronnie clenched her fists.

"Well, Ronnie! He- he was here! He had something to do with Archie's arrest! We have to go tell the police, now!" I started towards the exit.

"No, Betty, we can't do that!" She exclaimed, pulling me back. "They don't know what we know. In fact, for all we know, the police are _working_ for my dad. They wouldn't care."

"We have to do something!" I argued, knowing she was right.

"We should go to the station." Jughead said, anger in his voice. He looked tired, tired of everything in this 'town with pep'. Jason's murder, the Black Hood (my dad!), and now Archie's arrest?

"I agree." I said. Jughead squeezed my hand. Ronnie nodded.

"What the hell just happened?" Came a voice from behind us. I turned around, seeing Toni, Cheryl, Sweetpea, Fangs, and other serpent members. "Did Archie Golden-boy Andrews just get arrested for _murder_?" Toni crossed her arms.

"We're going to the station right now to see him." Jughead explained quickly, stepping away from me and towards the serpents. "Come if you want."

"Come if you want? Jughead, you're the serpent king now. You have to give us something more than that. What's going on?" Sweetpea demanded.

"It's too much to explain right now. I promise this will all make sense later." He said. The serpents did not look satisfied. "Look." He sighed. "Let's all meet at Pops at 3:00 today. I'll tell you everything there. I don't want everyone to hear." He glanced around.

"Fine." Fangs said, stopping whatever Sweetpea was about to say. Probably not 'fine'. "Go. We'll be at Pops, waiting."

"Good. That's good. Thanks for understanding." He nodded at the serpents. He reached back for me, grabbing my hand, and we all started towards the exit door.

A million thoughts raced through my mind as we opened Veronica's car door. What were we going to say when (or if!) we saw Archie? What if I saw my dad while on the way to Archie's cell? I stepped into the passenger seat. What if Archie wasn't given bail? What else was Hiram behind? Which one of us were next? I shut the door close and we sped through Riverdale.

{-}

After what seemed like hours, Veronica parked at the police station. The weather was matching the overall mood of the day: Rainy. We got out of the car and ran towards the glass doors. Sheriff Minetta was there, almost as if he knew we were coming. I skidded to an abrupt stop.

"Where is my boyfriend, Robert Gisevius?" Veronica demanded, shooting ice daggers from her eyes and referring to the corrupt policeman.

Sheriff Minetta stared at her. "I'm flattered by your reference." He said in a monotone, glaring.

"Don't ignore us, you traitor!" Jughead accused, pointing his finger at him.

Minetta told us that Archie was in questioning at the moment. "Don't worry. You can visit your boyfriend's cell soon." He started to walk away towards the cells.

I acted on impulse. "Wait!" Minetta turned around, looking at me expectantly. I composed myself, trying to frame my question right. "Which prisoners will Archie be near?" I asked, trying to find out whether he would be close to my dad. What if he was? Would I have to see my dad every time I wanted to see Archie? Just thinking about seeing him made me want to punch a wall. I hated him. I never wanted to see or hear from him again, no matter that he was my father. That doesn't make him any less of a murderer.

"Betty Cooper, isn't it?" He asked, a stern look on his face. "Yes, I remember checking in your father a couple days ago. What a tragedy." He looked at me dead-on in the eyes. "I'm sorry, but I can't disclose that kind of information just yet." His dark eyes seemed to twinkle at me, laughing.

"Not allowed to disclose that information? You just said a minute ago that we would see Archie in his cell soon! Why can't you tell us now?" Jughead was on the verge of breaking, I could tell. I looked into his eyes, trying to calm him down. He looked back, his eyes angry at first, but then slowly softening until he regained his composure.

"Exactly. I said soon. Not now. Have a good day now." He smiled coldly at us and walked away, going to make a cup of coffee. We watched him make it. He got it black. Just like his soul. He opened the door to a metal room, and in my field of vision, I saw a streak of red hair from inside. "Archie!" Jughead and Veronica strained to look but Minetta had already closed the door.

Jughead shook his head. "This is ridiculous." He scoffed. "Archie didn't kill Cassidy!"

"I know!" Veronica agreed. "Even if he has been going death-wish Archie lately, he would never actually kill someone. He might want to, but he never would be able to." I nodded my head. She sighed. "Oh, Archiekins." She said. "You're in deep water this time."

We were eventually ushered outside by the police into the rain. I sat down, resting my back on the wall. It was raining really hard, Ronnie's car was parked really far, and I didn't feel like getting wet. Jughead slumped down next to me.

"Hey," He said, his eyes gazing at me lovingly. "It's going to be alright." He put his hand on my shoulder, rubbing it.

"No, no it's not going to be alright!" I told him, shrugging his hand off my shoulder. I don't know why I was taking my anger out on Jughead; he had done nothing. "Everything is... spiraling." I started to rant. "My Dad was just arrested for being a mass murderer, Archie's being arrested, my mom's on the verge because of her long lost son, Polly's at some camp and actually forgives Dad!" The words seemed to have a mind of their own. "Veronica's Dad is trying to keep us all silent! First Archie, who's going to be next? You? Ronnie?" A single teardrop rolled down my left cheek. "I don't want to lose anybody else."

Jughead reached out for my hand and I let him take it. "All I know right now is that I am next to you, hand in hand." The corners of his mouth tilted up into a slight smile, and he wiped the tear on my cheek off with his pointer finger. "We're going to get through this."

"Hey guys, I think we should try to make it to the car now, the rain stopped." Veronica said.

I stood up. "Alright." I said, trying to shake off all of my worries. "It's almost 3:00." I said, checking my phone. I had 3 missed calls from my mom. I decided I would call her when I was in the car. She had probably heard about the Archie Thing and was worried. "We should head over to Pops."

"Good idea." Jughead agreed. The rain started drizzling again, so we quickly dashed for the car and got in. I pulled out my phone again and called my mom back.

"Mom?"

"Oh, thank God. Where are you, Elizabeth?"

"I just got out of the sheriff's station."

"Don't tell me they tried to arrest you too."

"What? No. We were trying to see Archie but they wouldn't let us." There was a pause. "I'm assuming you heard about what happened."

"Yes, and I thought we agreed that you were to come straight home when something like this happened!"

"Something like this happened? Mom, Archie just got _arrested!_ I thought that once dad was-" I stopped. "That once the Black Hood was caught, all this madness was going to stop! I didn't think that the police were going to walk in during the middle of the National Anthem and charge Archie with murder! He's my best friend. You seriously can't expect me to not check to see if he's okay."

I heard my mom sigh on the other line. "I worry so much about you Betty. I worry that you're not going to come home when you walk out that front door. Between all these murders, it's- it's just too much. I know that you want to check on Archie, but I need you to come home. I need you." She sounded desperate.

"Ok, fine, mom. I'll tell Veronica to drive me home, ok? I'm coming." I hung up and put my phone back in my pocket.

"Home so soon?" Veronica asked, making a u-turn.

"Yeah, my mom's freaking out. Sorry I can't make it to Pops, Jug." I looked behind me to see him.

"It's fine. I would offer to come home with you, but you saw the serpents back at the school. And as their king, I have a responsibility now." He straightened his beanie as if it were his crown.

"Yeah, I get it." I looked down and chipped the pink nail polish off my nails.

"Well, I don't think I should go to the serpent meeting for obvious reasons, so I'll drop you off first, Betty." She nodded at me. "Then I'll drop Jughead off at Pops, and..." She trailed off. "Well, I don't really want to go home right now, so I guess I'll just drive around for a bit." Her gaze never faltered but something shifted in the atmosphere.

"Do you want to come to my house?" I offered.

"Yeah, actually. That would be refreshing." She smiled. "So I'll drop Jughead off first then, and then we'll both go to your house."

"Sounds good."

{-}

We reached Pops, and Jughead climbed out of the car saying goodbye and telling us to wish him luck. We did, and he swung open the front door of the chock'lit shoppe. I saw 15 pairs of eyes look at him from the window.

"Hey, thanks for letting me crash." Veronica told me. "I really don't want to face my parents right now. I can't look them in the eye without thinking of all the horrible things they've done and gone unpunished for."

"Of course! Ronnie, you can stay as long as you want. My mom might freak out, but she'll eventually allow it." I laughed, despite the grim situation.

She laughed back, and once we started, we couldn't stop. We sat there laughing like crazy people. Maybe we were. Maybe we were just crazy, broken people who needed someone to confide in and someone to tell us everything was fine. But after all, 

we were just kids.


	2. Chapter 2: Jughead

I swung open the door to Pops, bracing myself for the Serpent interrogation I was about to recieve. Literally as soon as I stepped in, I felt at least 10 pairs of eyes on me, watching my every move. I saw Toni, Cheryl, Sweetpea, and Fangs at a booth, looking at me with their eyebrows raised as if saying, "Start explaining."

The other customers at Pops seemed very alarmed that a Serpent meeting was taking place in their beloved Northside restaurant. Whatever. They could spend 30 minutes out of their lives in the presence of *Gasp!* _Southsiders._ I didn't see an empty table near the Serpents, so I just stood somewhat in the middle of the mass.

"Alright!" I said, signaling that the meeting was going to start, even though every eye was already on me. "I know you guys have been upset because you want to know what the hell's going on right?" Where should I even start? Even the Northsiders were looking at me. Or, they were walking out. "Well, you guys know that Hiram Lodge has been playing Monopoly with this town, buying property in secret. You know about the Black Hood, and how it turned out to be Hal Cooper, Betty's dad."

"Just one more reason why we shouldn't trust her..." Someone murmured. Why did they hate Betty so much? She had done nothing to them.

"Hey." I told them. "Betty's done more for us than you guys realize. Cut it out. Anyway," I continued. "Veronica bought the Whyte Wyrm, then proceeded to trade it with her dad for the very place we're in." I motioned to around us. A collective amount of groans echoed around the room. "I know, I'm not happy about it either but it's the way it is. And we have to deal with it. Now, Archie Andrews was just arrested for the murder of Shadowlake resident Cassidy Bullick. We met him when we were staying at Veronica's vacation house. He broke in, and Archie ran after him. Now, I'm not going to say that I know exactly what happened, because I don't. But I like to believe that my friend isn't capable of murder."

"Did he seem upset?" Fangs asked.

"Well, yeah. We all were-"

"But did he seem especially upset?"

I wasn't going to lie, Archie did seem a bit too angry that night. "Yes. He threatened to kill him, but I didn't hear any sort of gun shot or scream. He came back without a speck of blood on him. He didn't kill him." I was starting to get impatient, even though I understood their doubt. "Now here's the thing: Mr. Lodge was spotted at the gymnasium at the time Archie got arrested." I shook my finger at no one in particular. "Now what does that lead you to believe?"

"That the damn Northsiders are ruining this town. Again." Sweetpea answered gruffly.

"Yeah, they believe that we're the source of every problem, yet they don't look at the facts." Toni joined in. "Who was the Black Hood? Hal Cooper, a Northsider. Who's buying all of the land of Riverdale, slowly tearing us all apart? Hiram Lodge, a Northsider." Shouts of agreement rose.

"Who killed Jason Blossom?" Cheryl said. "Clifford Blossom, my dad. A Northsider." Cheryl's eyes were fiery and passionate, filled with hate at the mention of her father. Toni stretched her arm behind Cheryl, holding onto her.

"Exactly." I said, regaining control of the conversation. "Hiram Lodge is behind this, I know it. One of his henchman probably killed Cassidy, and then he blamed it on Archie so that he wouldn't tell the authorities, who probably wouldn't even do anything, since they're probably corrupt anyway."

"Well, where are we going to stay now that the Whyte Wyrm is gone? We can't stay at the Andrews household anymore, there's too many of us and that family's already breaking down." Toni asked.

"Yeah, we don't need all that Andrews drama." Said a serpent I didn't know the name of. I decided to ignore him because his statement was really ignorant considering Mr. Andrews had let us stay there when everything was falling apart.

"That's a great question, Toni. And I have an answer. Veronica is building an underground cabaret here at Pops. Northside and Southside alike, but the space will be huge. We could easily branch off and make our own little space. Until then, let's stay at the place where my dad retired and I was crowned." I'd say half the serpents were skeptical, and the other half looked on board with this plan. "It's the best I can do right now."

We finished the meeting by talking about minor things, issues that hadn't been resolved, etc etc. By the time we were done, the only Northsider left (Besides Cheryl, but she was a serpent now) was Pop Tate himself. That shows how real this Riverdale civil-war really was.

"Alright, that's a wrap. Thanks for being patient with me guys, I know times are difficult right now, but we have to fight back!" I told them. They shook their heads in agreement and there was a chorus of "Yeah!"s. I clapped them on the back as they left, then sat down at an empty booth and ordered a strawberry milkshake and a burger. I took my laptop out of my bag and started typing, getting lost in my newest novel...

{-}

 _The ice cold water sank and rose with a rhythm that mirrored my heartbeat..._ I finished off a chapter and closed my laptop. I sipped my milkshake before hearing my phone buzz. I fished it out of my bag and checked to see who was calling. I saw a girl with a blonde ponytail, attempting to cover her face with her hands for the photo, laughing. Keyword attempting (You could still see her green eyes through the spaces of her fingers). I smiled. I remembered taking this photo of Betty, back when we first started dating. She hated the picture, so obviously, I set it as my profile photo for her contact and now it shows up every time she calls. I answered the call.

"Hey, Betts, everything ok?" I asked her, taking a bite of my burger.

"Jug, something happened." Her voice was hushed into a whisper. She sounded so scared, so frightened. I immediately stood up, starting to clear my plates and pack everything back into my bag.

"What do you mean? Are you ok? I'm coming over." I stepped outside and realized I didn't have any method of transportation since Veronica dropped me off. I would have to walk. Or run, should I say.

"NO, Jug you can't do that!" She raised her voice slightly, sounding more frantic. She took a deep breath. "Somebody broke in."

" _What?!_ " I started running towards Betty's house. "Betty, there's no way in hell you can persuade me to not come over. Who broke in? Are you hiding? Did you get out?"

"I don't know who broke in. Ronnie and I heard someone banging on the door, causally at first, but then more and more violent. My mom fell asleep in her room, so I ran in and told her that someone was at the door. Suddenly we heard the door collapse, and he was inside. We didn't want to try and escape through one of the doors since he was down there, so right now we're in my room. The door is locked and we barricaded it with a dresser and a nightstand. He hasn't come upstairs yet. Ronnie and my mom are hiding in the closet, and I'm trying to get a window open but it's not cooperating! Wait, it's starting to open. Hold on." She put the phone down, and suddenly I heard a loud noise from Betty's line and heard someone in the background sware.

I really didn't know what to make of the situation, so I kept on running, not knowing what I was going to do once I got there. "What was that noise, Betty?" There was no response. I felt my heart drop. "Betty? Answer me! What's going on?" The call ended. She had hung up. Fear crawled through my entire body. I kept running, not stopping for anything. I decided not to call again in case her ringer was on and the intruder heard. I was on her street now. I was so close. I saw her house in the distance. My phone made a dinging noise. One new text from Betty.

 _I opened the window halfway, but it slammed back down. He heard. He's banging on the door. I'm still trying to get the window open. V and mom are helping._

 _I'm here. I'm going to make a distraction so he'll go to another room. Then I'll find a ladder or something so that you can get down once you open the window. It's going to be ok. Stay calm._ I texted back. I ran into the house and heard the banging. I sucked in a breath. I decided to slam the basement door so that he would come down. Maybe I could lock him inside. I remembered that there was another door down there and ran down the stairs to lock and barricade it. But when I was halfway through the steps, my blood chilled. There was already someone down there. He was tied up in a chair, similar to how Chic once was. But this man wasn't Chic. In fact, I didn't recognize him at all. He appeared to be unconscious. I paused, then remembered Betty and the other upstairs and ran to the other basement exit, locking it and putting some miscellaneous furniture in front of it. I took another glance at the body, not sure if he was dead or not, and ran back upstairs, slamming the basement door. I heard the banging from upstairs stop, and then ran out the front entrance, trying to find a ladder. I had about a minute before he went downstairs and realized no one was there.

I went into the garage and easily found a ladder there. I ran to Betty's window and propped the ladder up. Even though the intruder was currently on his way to the basement, Betty, Ronnie, and Mrs. Cooper couldn't get down without removing the barricades from the door which would make noise. I heard footsteps coming from the basement and ran back inside, shutting the door and locking it. He realized what happened and started banging on the door. I went back outside to the ladder, climbing up it. I remembered the first time I did this, climbing up to her bedside window, back when we were all so innocent and naive.

 _I started climbing, eager to see her. She might be a little freaked out, but I didn't care. I knocked thrice on the window, seeing her turn around, a confused smile on her face. She jogged over, opening it for me._

 _"Hey there, Juliet." I looked around. "Nurse off duty?"_

 _She smiled as bright as the sun, no- brighter and motioned for me to come in. I scanned the room. It was so... Betty._

 _She started ranting about how her whole family was crazy, and what if she was crazy too? I wanted to give her the world. I wanted to be able to make all her problems disappear._

 _"Hey," I told her. "We're all crazy." She laughed silently. I looked at her, taking in her beauty._

 _"What?" She asked, a smile playing at her lips._

 _I kissed her. She was surprised at first, but then melted into it. I forgot about all my problems with my dad, my mom, Jellybean, Jason Blossom's murder, the Southside Serpents. All I could focus on was the beautiful ray of sunshine in front of me. I broke away first, and her face morphed into one of shock._

 _"The car!" She exclaimed._

 _I smirked playfully. "Wow. That's what your thinking about in the middle of our moment?"_

Oh, how times had changed.

Betty was struggling with the window. I tried helping, but it really wasn't much use since I was outside. Finally, after about 5 more minutes of pure panic, fearing that whoever broke in knocked down the door to the basement, Betty got the window open.

"Betty!" I helped her down, then helped Veronica and Mrs. Cooper. Then I shut the window and went back down the ladder. "Betty, oh my god." I cupped my hands around her face. "I thought I lost you." She kissed me, and I felt as if I held the whole world in the palm of my hands. I just wanted to stay like this forever. But alas, there was still a dangerous intruder in the basement. I broke away, saying, "The basement!"

Betty smiled, gently imitating me when she said in response, "Wow. That's what your thinking about in the middle of our moment?" I laughed, releasing all the worries away.

"I locked him in the basement. He's still there." I looked at the front door. I sighed. "I don't want you to come in, Betty. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Jughead, he broke into _my_ house. Me, Ronnie, my mom. We should all see who it is." Betty said.

"I agree with that statement." Veronica piped up. Betty's mom still was in shock but firmly nodded her head.

"Fine." I concluded. I knew I wasn't changing her mind. "Just... stay close. Be careful. And call the police!" Betty pulled out her phone, made a quick phone call, and we crept back into the house, hearing not only banging, but kicking. I jumped back, then stepped forward.

"Hey! You barbarian!" I spun around to see Veronica standing with her mouth forming those words. Sirens went off in my head, and the noises stopped. I saw Betty's mom, who had a heavy lamp in her hands, and Betty, with a metal rod. I wasn't going to ask where she got it from. I pulled out my pocket knife, and cautiously opened the door. What we saw shocked us.

"Hey guys. Did you miss me?" White-blonde hair, icy blue eyes, and a thin-shaped face stood in front of us.

"Chic." Betty's mom breathed.

It turned out he had a weapon of his own, and swung the gun, aiming for the top of Betty's head. I quickly blocked him, pinning him to the ground. "What the hell are you doing here?" I growled.

"Chic?" Betty asked, taken aback. "I thought... I thought..."

He sneered. "You thought what? That when you sent dear old dad after me, I was murdered? Think again."

"Oh my god." We heard Veronica gasp. She pointed her finger towards the basement. "What is that?" Oh right. I forgot about the body.

Betty's eyes got wide. "Oh yeah." Chic said to her. "Meet your long-lost brother." He smiled coldly.

"Is..." Betty stuttered. "Is he dead?"

"He will be soon."

"I thought you said he died from a drug overdose." Mrs. Cooper said. She was crying, taking steps down the stairs to her dying son.

"Just another lie of Chic Whatever-your-last-name-is," Betty stared at him. I still had him pinned on the ground. Mrs. Cooper was holding onto Charles, crying.

Just in time, the police came. I heard the blaring alarms. 5 police officers barreled into the house, talking into their Walkie-Talkies. "Call the paramedics!" They yelled when they saw Charles. Before I knew what was happening, one of them was on me.

"What are you doing?" Betty shoved him off of me. Another one handcuffed me. "Stop it!" She shrieked.

"Forsyth Pendleton Jones III, you are under arrest for the beating of Chic," He didn't know his last name, so he just said Chic. "And the attempted murder of Charles Smith."

Betty and Veronica looked at me with fearful eyes. "Get your hands off me!" I told them. "I didn't do anything." Did they seriously think that I was the one responsible for this? Chic was pinned to the ground because he tried to attack my girlfriend!

"Get off him!" Betty exclaimed. "Chic broke in, he- he tried to kill Charles, Jughead did nothing! What are you doing?" The policeman glared at Betty.

I finally decided that fighting the policeman would not help my case. "It's fine, Betty. I'm going to be fine. There's no evidence against me." The police arrested Archie, and now me? They were slowly getting us all. There was no Hiram in sight; I didn't think he was behind this. I should have let go of Chic when the police arrived. I walked right into that one. But they couldn't put me in jail. They must know that I'm innocent,

right?


	3. Chapter 3: Veronica

{ **Ok so this chapter's a little shorter than the other two. Sorry, I was in a rush to finish. It still has a lot of stuff going on, but it just ended up being shorter. Idk. Thanks for reading!}**

"Let's make a club." I told Betty after Jughead got hauled off by the police.

"What?"

"The My-Boyfriend-Is-In-Jail-For-A-Crime-He-Didn't-Commit Club." I gave a sympathetic smile.

"Now _really_ isn't the best time to make a joke, V. Jughead and Archie are both arrested and in police custody." She started looking around for something, scanning the kitchen counters.

"What are you looking for?"

"My keys. We're going to see Jughead." She found them and started out the front door.

"Betty, they're not going to let you see him!" I told her. Didn't we just go through this with Archie a few hours ago?

"I don't care. It's worth a try." She opened her garage and stood outside her car. She looked at me. "Are you coming?"

I sighed and looked around. I couldn't go home, where my parents were going Bonnie and Clyde. I couldn't stay here, where everything was falling to shambles. My boyfriend was in jail. Jughead was in jail. "Fine."

I looked at Betty as we were driving. She seemed positively pissed. I didn't really want to say anything, because if I did, I would probably make the situation worse. So, instead, I rolled down my window and looked outside. Everything was eerily normal. It was if nothing had changed. I felt the breeze on my face and the sun shining on me.

Betty broke the silence. "Maybe we can see Archie."

I perked up hearing his name. "That's right! He has to be done with questioning by now. He's probably in..." I trailed off.

"His jail cell." Betty finished grimly. I nodded.

"It's so unfair that Chic just got away with everything. Running away from the scene of the crime. Doesn't that just prove guilt?"

"Exactly. I can't believe he used Jughead's arrest as a distraction to get away." She shook her head. "I mean, seriously, how can the police be so blind?"

"We know Minetta's corrupt. Probably hired by my dad..." I looked down. "I think the others just follow him since he's the sheriff. They're willfully blind."

"I know." We drove in silence for a few more minutes.

"We need a plan."

"A plan?" Betty turned her head to look at me.

"Eyes on the road." I teased her. She smiled and rolled her eyes, focusing her attention back to driving. I continued. "We need to get Jughead and Archie out of jail somehow. It's not like we can just smuggle them out. The Sheriff's not budging on his position that they're both guilty. What are we going to do?"

She shook her head. "I have no idea. But I'll think of something. _We'll_ think of something." She corrected. "For now, we just need to check on them. See where they stand. We should be able to see Archie. Jughead may still be in questioning, but I'm willing to wait."

"Me too." I squeezed Betty's hand, feeling confident that this nightmare would end soon.

{-}

We reached the police station (For the second time that day!) and swung open the doors like some badass female superheroes. I can just picture it in slow motion. We walked up to the front counter.

"Hi, can we speak to Sheriff Minetta?" I asked. Betty smiled frighteningly sweet.

"Concerning what?" The lady at the desk asked. She was on the older side, with light brown hair and black eyes.

"Concerning the fact that this whole station is crawling with corrupt spies, and the fact that both our boyfriends were just put into police custody for crimes they didn't commit," Betty said threateningly, just over a whisper, leaning over the desk. Say goodbye to Betty, Dark! Betty was rising.

"I don't know what you're talking about." The lady put her glasses on, almost as if to see us more clearly.

"Oh, I think you do." I said in the same tone as Betty. The lady, taken aback, grabbed the phone and dialed a number. I presume it was Sheriff Minetta's, because a minute later, he paraded down the hallway.

"Ah! What a surprise!" He gave us another one of his cold smiles, but this time, we were not going to be shoved outside. We were a force to be reckoned with. "Miss Lodge. Miss Cooper." He nodded his head at us respectively.

"Y'know, back when Mr. Keller was Sheriff, we all called him Sheriff Clueless. You're worse. You're Sheriff Corrupt." I spat at him (Not literally, I have class, thank you very much). "Show us where Archie is!" I demanded.

He chuckled. "The Lodges are quite a feisty family, aren't they?" His eyes shifted to the right of him, then quickly went back to us. "Mr. Jones is still in questioning," I saw Betty straighten up. "But Mr. Andrews is ready for visitors."

"Great!" I declared. "Let's go." I started walking, but he grabbed my arm.

"Not so fast, Miss Lodge. You still need to fill out paperwork." He took out a pen and grabbed two sheets from the desk we were at. "Please complete these and speak to me after you're done."

Betty and I sat down at some chairs and started filling out the questions. Most of them were basic.

 _Full name? Veronica Cecilia Lodge_

 _Age? 16 years old_

 _What is your relation to inmate? Girlfriend and friend_

 _Race? Hispanic_

Etc, etc

"Ugh. All this is stressing me out. I'm going to go get a coffee. Want anything?" I asked. Betty shook her head. I walked over to the coffee station and got it with whipped cream and sugar. Suddenly, I heard voices coming from the general direction of the cells. Was that...? No. It couldn't be. I couldn't hear well, so I took a few steps towards the cells. No one seemed to notice. I took a few more steps, and now I could hear the voices clearly. My parents. What. Were. They. Doing. Here? I didn't want to speak to them, I didn't want to look at them, I didn't even want to hear of them ever again. But I had to. I marched down the hallway, heading in the direction of the voices. To hell with paperwork.

"Mom? Dad? What the _actual hell_ are you doing here?" They were at Archie's cell. I was furious. How dare they think they can get my boyfriend arrested and then talk to him like nothing had happened.

"Veronica...!" My mom jumped at the sound of my voice, looking at my father. My gaze was beady and unyielding. "Wh-what are _you_ doing here?" She asked nervously.

I pointed at myself, feigning surprise. "What-what am _I_ doing here? Oh, I don't know, maybe _checking on my boyfriend that you had arrested!"_ I was tired of all this Lodge crap. I really just wanted to be emancipated at this point.

"Veronica!" I heard Archie's voice. And then I saw him. His usually bright red hair was now a light brown, and his always-twinkling eyes seemed dim. "Archie, oh my god." I rushed over to the cell, not caring that my parents were right there.

"Remember what we talked about, Mr. Andrews." My father nodded at Archie, didn't acknowledge me, and walked away.

"What we talked about? Archiekins, what did that snake say? Did he threaten you? Are you ok? How long are you going to be in here?" I reached my hand through the bars to hold his.

He laughed, despite the situation. "I'm fine, Ronnie. The thing with your dad..." He furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head. "It's nothing. It's really not a big deal. Not your problem."

"Yes, yes it is my problem! What did he say?" I brushed my hand on his cheek.

"I think that's a question for another day, Miss Lodge." Minetta was standing right behind me. "Whatever happened to that paperwork? You're not allowed to be here."

"It's right here!" A voice came from down the hall. God bless Betty, always there to save the day. I squinted. She had even filled out the rest of my paperwork. She thrusted it into the Sheriff's hands.

"Very well," He said. "You have 15 minutes." He tapped his watch and slowly walked away.

"Oh, god, Archie..." Betty said.

"I'm fine. Seriously." He swept a hand through his hair. "What have I missed?" Betty and I exchanged a glance. "What?" He asked. "Did something happen?"

"Chic broke into Betty's house with Charles's dying body." I announced.

"Oh my god, is everyone ok? Charles? I thought he was dead?" He looked confused.

"Chic lied." I told him. Shocker.

"Is he in police custody?"

"No, but Jughead is." Betty said quietly, as though if she said it soft enough, it would make it not true.

"Jughead? What?" Archie was gripping the bars of the cell.

"When the police came, they saw Chic pinned to the ground by Jughead and assumed he was the one who broke in and tried killing Charles." Betty explained. "Chic got away..."

Archie hit one of the cell bars. "That's ridiculous!"

"It is, but we were witnesses." I said. "We can tell Minetta what really happened." I assured Betty.

"What if he doesn't believe us?" She asked with fearful eyes.

"We'll make him." I said firmly.

We talked with Archie for a few more minutes before Sheriff Minetta ushered us out. "Have a nice rest of your day."

"Hey!" Betty exclaimed. "We're witnesses regarding to Jughead's arrest. We know what really happened, and Jughead doesn't deserve to be in there." She pointed to the questioning room where Jughead was.

"You want to make a statement..." Minetta said slowly. We nodded, and he saw that we weren't changing our minds. "Follow me." He brought Betty to another questioning room, and then put me into another. "An officer will be with you shortly." He shut the door in my face.

The room was dark at first, but I found a light switch and flipped it on. I saw cameras in the corners of the room, which just made me feel more uncomfortable. All my life, I had felt watched by my parents. I had to make the right move in every decision, there was no room for faulty errors. A female officer with dark red hair stepped in.

"Miss Lodge? Please sit down." She motioned to the chair.

I saw the red light on the camera blink, signaling it was recording. Was this going to be how things were for the rest of my life?

Constantly being watched and judged?


	4. Chapter 4: Archie

I sat down on the hard bed in my cell. It was stiff and not comfortable at all. But I mean, what did I expect in jail, right? I can take getting arrested. But if Hiram and Minetta think they can imprison my friends too? They better think again.

"Archie!" I heard my name called by a very familiar voice. My dad. "Archie, sorry I didn't come earlier, I literally just found out what happened." He looked at me. "What _did_ happen? From your perspective." He tilted his head.

"Dad, I didn't murder this man!"

"I know you didn't murd-"

"Hiram and Minetta- they're working together. They just arrested Jughead for a crime he didn't commit too. They're tearing us all apart!" I shook the bars of the cell.

"Archie, what happened?"

I looked at my dad's eyes. He seemed so sad, so confused, but determined to get me out. "Cassidy broke into Veronica's house while we were staying there. He escaped so I ran after him. I tackled him..." My dad raised an eyebrow. "But I didn't hurt him! That's when Andre said he'd take it from there."

"Who's Andre?"

"Mr. Lodge's doorman and guard."

"So... do you think Andre killed Cassidy?" My dad asked. I nodded my head. We were silent for a few moments. "Who else has visited you?"

"Betty, Veronica," _Hiram and Hermione..._ I thought. But I wasn't about to scare my dad anymore than he already was.

"That's it? No one else?"

I looked around at the bare walls of my cell. Everything was grey. It was so empty. There was no indication that anyone had ever been here except some faded tally marks on the wall. "That's it."

My dad shook his head. "This is all my fault."

My forehead creased. "What? Dad, no, none of this has to do with you. This is all Mr. Lodge's doing."

"If I didn't have that stupid grudge with that family, he would leave you alone. We could be at home right now, ordering dinner and watching the football game. Hiram has a lot of enemies, and when he lashes out, the results are frightening. Trust me." He seemed lost in his thoughts; lost in his past.

I leaned as close to the cells as I could get. "None of this is your fault." I told him. "It's my own. I don't know why I got so close to Hiram's mafia thing. It was really stupid of me."

My dad smiled. "Yeah, that was pretty dumb."

"Fred Andrews? Your visiting time is over." A policewoman stepped towards us, motioning the exit. My dad started to walk away.

"Stay put, Arch. We're going to get you out." He called.

 _Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere._ I thought.

{-}

I was staring at the wall, tracing the tally marks with my finger when I heard him.

"Let go of me!" There was definitely a struggle happening. "I didn't do anything! You can't just throw me in here!" I saw two policemen handling Jughead, his precious beanie crown gone. Probably confiscated. His dark hair was tousled and messy (Probably from the struggle), but his blue-green eyes still twinkled. He was shoved into the cell adjacent to me. It was locked, and he started to hit the cell bars as the policemen were walking away. "Hey! Don't just walk away! You can't just leave me in here!"

"Hey, Jug." I said.

"This is ridiculous." He said in return. He smiled half-heartedly. "Abandon hope all ye who enter here, am I right?"

I scoffed. "Jug, what are we going to do? We can't stay here. Betty and Veronica... they could be next."

"I know, Archie. They have no evidence against us!"

I shook my head. "It doesn't matter. Minetta will just listen to whatever Hiram tells him to do." Jughead started to hit his head against the bars. "Stop, Jug, you're going to hurt yourself." He obliged.

We continued talking about how this whole thing was really messed up, how Betty and Veronica could be in danger. He told me how he ended up in jail, and that Chic escaped. We talked for a few hours. I hated that both Jughead and I were here, but in a way, it was refreshing to have someone to talk to. About halfway through our conversation, we saw a a blonde and a brunette walk out of questioning rooms.

"Betty." Jughead gripped the bars, willing them to break. They didn't. Betty and Veronica glanced at us, giving us small smiles, and walked out of the station. I didn't blame them. There was no way Minetta would have let them visit us, paperwork or not.

Eventually it started to get dark. The station was about to close, but before it did, we heard a voice. "Wait!" They said. "Let me... let me see my son!" Fp. He sounded angry and... drunk.

"Dad?" Jughead called. We heard the sound of footsteps. Fp appeared, looking a bit messy and unshaven. "Dad... what happened to you?"

"Boy... what happened to _you_? Did you get into some trouble..?" He slurred his words.

"You've been drinking again, haven't you? That time I saw you drinking... I thought it was a one time thing. You said you were going to stop!" I couldn't see Jughead's face from where I was, but I knew it must have been anxious and heartbroken.

"You're in trouble boy... deep deep trouble..." He hit the cell.

"Sir, we're going to have to ask you to leave." Minetta said. "You can't be back here." Fp shoved him.

"Dad... what are you doing?" Jughead sounded so broken.

"Jellybean...your mom..." He trailed off and laughed. "Alice..."

"Jellybean? Mom? Dad, what are you trying to say?" Fp just looked at him. Jughead hit the cell. "Dad! Answer me!" Police officers grabbed Fp and dragged him to the exit. "Are they back? _Answer me!_ " Fp was taken outside. "Damnit!" Jughead exclaimed. "I should have stopped him from drinking... I should have kept a closer eye on him..." He started murmuring. I didn't say anything. I let him ramble until I heard him fall asleep.

{-}

I woke up to a set of dark brown eyes studying me.

"You're quite peaceful when you sleep, even being in a jail cell." Veronica observed.

"Ronnie!" I sat up immediately. The sight of her woke me up. "What are you doing here?" I smiled.

"I'm just checking on my boyfriend!" She smiled reaching through the cell and brushing my hair back. I laughed. "Betty came too, but she's talking to Jughead right now." I nodded my head.

"Ronnie... I don't want you to be out there with only Betty. I can't stand the thought of you getting hurt."

"I can take care of myself, Archiekins."

"I know, but still..." She cut me off.

"Archie needs to worry about Archie right now for," She waved her hand around the cell. "Obvious reasons. So, I hired you a lawyer."

"Who?"

"Former Mayor McCoy. I was going to call your mom in, but then I realized that if you have a trial, the jury probably would think she was biased. Which she probably would be. Anyway, she's going to be visiting you later today to talk about your options. Also, I tried paying for you and Jughead's bail, but I got denied for both. Apparently, an _anonymous donator_ paid it already. Anyway, I tried at least." She was honestly too good for me. I don't know where I would be without her.

"Ronnie! That's great! I can not even begin to thank you for what you've done." I held her hand through the bars.

"I was sitting here for a while, so my visiting time is probably over. I should go, before they kick me out." I nodded my head. "Bye Archiekins. Hang in there for one more day!" She smiled and left, bringing Betty with her.

{-}

At roughly 2:00 pm, Mrs. McCoy walked in. I heard the _click clack_ of her heels down the hallway.

"Mr. Andrews!" She exclaimed. "How are you?"

I stared at her. "Not very well, which I'm guessing you could figure out."

"Miss Lodge told me you need a lawyer. So here I am. But for this to work, I need to know everything that happened. What really happened."

Did everyone think that I was lying? Did everyone really believe that I killed Cassidy? "He broke into Veronica's vacation house while we were there. I chased after him. I tackled him. Then Andre, Hiram Lodge's bodyguard, said he would take it from there and I left."

"Archie... Andre is dead. So therefore we don't have a witness."

"What? Andre's dead?" Why had no one told me about this?

"Yes. You don't have a witness. So you have to be convincing. Can you do that?" I nodded my head.

"Good. An anonymous person posted bail, so you'll be out of here soon. Charges have been pressed, so you will be having a trial." I groaned. "I know, I know. But it'll be fine. They have no evidence against you."

"But I have no witnesses."

"I told you. Be convincing."

"What about Jughead and his case? Does he have a lawyer?"

Mrs. McCoy sighed. "Charles's immediate family is not stepping forward. We don't know where they are, so we don't know if they want to press charges or not."

"That's bull. The Coopers are his immediate family."

"The Coopers are his biological family, not his immediate family." Mrs. McCoy explained. I sighed.

"Mrs. McCoy, you're visiting time is up." She nodded her head at me and I heard the _click clack_ of her heels walk back down the hallway she came from.

{-}

"Jug?" I leaned on the wall.

"Yeah?" He answered.

"What are we going to do?"

I heard him sigh. "I don't know Arch, let's see what tomorrow brings. We'll be ok. They have no evidence against either of us."

I paused. "Did you know that an anonymous person posted our bail?"

I heard him shift his body. "Anonymous person? Honestly, Hiram needs a new alias name. Everyone knows it's him. He's not fooling anyone. Why would he post our bail if he's the one who put us in here in the first place?"

"I don't know." Except I did. The conversation I had with Mr. Lodge... but I had never agreed. He couldn't go through with his offer if I never agreed to it!

"Get some sleep, Archie. We'll be free by tomorrow!" We laughed and said goodnight.

{-}

I woke up to the sound of voices. What time was it? It had to be late, maybe even past midnight. Who was still here besides the prisoners? Somebody laughed.

"I mean, I was going to get him anyway, he's troublesome, that one. Determined, though. I respect that." Was that..?

"You should have seen him when we were trying to get him booked!" They laughed again.

"Jug!" I whisper-shouted. He must have been asleep; he didn't say anything back.

"As I was saying, I was going to find some way to get him arrested as well, but I mean, he just did this to himself."

"He was practically standing on top of that boy when we got there!"

Hiram and Minetta. I was fully awake now, and could recognize their voices.

"Just blame it all on him." Hiram said. "Cassidy, Charles... everything. We'll see where we want to go with Archie, but for now... blame it all on the other one." I froze. The other one? Were they going to say Jughead helped kill Cassidy?

"But Sir, Charles... he escaped from the hospital. We don't know if he's dead or not." Minetta said.

"We don't know if he's dead. The public... they have no idea what's going on. Say that he's dead. Do whatever you can to keep that boy in there!"

"Yes, Sir."

"In return for your services..." I couldn't see, but I assumed Hiram passed money to Minetta. I heard footsteps, growing softer and softer.

Was Minetta going to say that Jughead helped kill Cassidy? And say that he killed Charles, even though they don't know whether he's dead or not?! Why were they doing this? Jughead barely even knew Mr. Lodge, but that didn't stop him from talking about him, saying he was slowly buying all of Riverdale and was going to ruin us all. I should have listened to him. Now look at where we were. I thought back to my conversation with Hiram and Hermione when they visited me but then quickly stopped. Hiram couldn't do that. I had never agreed. I fell asleep listening to the sound of the generator hum, and thinking how anything could possibly be worse.

{-}

I woke up, still rattled by what I heard last night. No more than a few minutes later, there were many officers walking down our hallway.

"All right!" I heard Jughead say. "Freedom, here we come."

I saw who was walking and my heart stopped. 5 officers, Sheriff Minetta, and... Hiram Lodge. The Sheriff opened my cell and said, "Archie Andrews, your bail has been posted. You are free to leave until your trial." Two officers took me by the arms and were starting to walk me down the hallway, but I wouldn't let them.

"What about Jughead?" I asked.

"Ah, yes." Minetta said. "We were just getting to him." He walked up to Jughead's cell but didn't take out the key. "Forsyth Pendleton Jones III, charges have been dropped for the beating of Chic and the attempted murder of Charles Smith." Jughead and I breathed a sigh of relief. "Instead, you have two new charges."

"What?" Jughead asked.

"Forsyth Pendleton Jones III, you are charged with being an accomplice to the murder of Cassidy Bullick and the murder of Charles Smith."

"What? No!" Jughead shouted, shaking the cell.

"Your bail was paid for the previous charges. However, those charges have been dropped. You are charged with the crimes just listed with no bail." He started to walk away, with Jughead shouting at him, frantically.

Hiram smiled a wicked smile, nodding at me and walking off into the shadows.

"NO!" I yelled at him. "I never agreed to your stupid offer!"

 _I heard their footsteps walking up to my cell._

 _"Archie!" Hiram exclaimed._

 _"What are you doing here?" I growled._

 _"Well, I'm here to make a deal, you could say." Hiram explained. He looked at Hermione and she nodded. "I will pay your bail if your beloved friend, Jughead, I believe his name is, is also charged with Cassidy's murder."_

 _"Why the hell would I agree to that?" I demanded. "Sir." I added, mocking him._

 _"Your bail is over a million dollars. I don't think you can afford that, can you, Archie? I need Mr. Jones out of my way. He's the leader of the Serpents now, so if he's gone, the whole gang collapses. Besides, he's too smart for his own good. He knew my plans long before anyone else did. It would be easier for me to handle him if he were in a jail cell." He smiled coldly. "What say you?"_

 _"I do not accept your offer." I snarled._

The officers started walking me down the hallway, away from my cell, away from Jughead. I was trying to shake them off, but I couldn't.

"I NEVER AGREED!"


	5. Chapter 5: Betty

"What?!" I exclaimed when I heard the news.

"I know." Archie said, shaking his head. "I never even agreed to Mr. Lodge's offer. I never would have, but he did it anyway!"

I couldn't believe that Jughead was still in jail, and that now the charges were even worse. Not only one murder, but two murders! And no bail!

"Guys, usually I have a bunch of ideas," Veronica claimed. "But I actually dunno with this." She sipped her chocolate milkshake.

Here we were, at a booth at Pops, doing things we normally would be doing. Eating burgers. Sipping milkshakes. Archie and Veronica on one side, me and Jughead on the other. Except... I looked to the right of me. There was a void, where Jughead should be. He should be here, devouring burgers, drinking a strawberry milkshake, getting lost in the world of his computer, his arm around my shoulders. His dark hair should be sticking out from under his beanie, and his blue-green eyes should be twinkling with excitement and mischief. Instead, there was only the empty space where he had sat so many times next to me.

"Why Jughead? He did nothing, _nothing_ to deserve this!" I sighed. "I want to help him... but I don't know how to..." Suddenly, I saw a figure walk through the door. His black hair was as dark as the night sky.

Veronica turned around. "Oh, god." She slumped down in the booth. "Spare me." Luckily, Hiram walked to the other side of the restaurant and sat down at a booth.

"V, have you gone back to your apartment yet?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm basically just living there. My credit cards are cut off, my 1/3 of Lodge Industries was cut off, I really don't do anything but sleep there. I don't even talk to my dad anymore. I've been trying to tell my mom to leave him, but she won't." Veronica sat back up in her seat.

"Who's he waiting for?" Archie asked, twiddling his thumbs. He was obviously put off that Hiram was here.

"I don't know..." I whispered. I don't know why I was whispering. I doubt Hiram could hear us from where he was. We watched him order a coffee, and start sipping it slowly. We watched another figure walk through the door. Dirty blonde hair, ocean blue eyes.

"Why is-" Veronica asked.

"Penny here." I finished. Anger bubbled inside of me. This is the woman who almost killed Jughead, this is the woman who took advantage of him. I clenched my hands into a fist. I didn't even notice the searing pain, and I didn't notice the blood starting to drip onto the floor. "What is she doing here?" I asked through clenched teeth.

Veronica stared at me, looking concerned. "Betty, calm down." I shook my head.

"How dare she... she even _step_ in here again." I stood up. Who does she think she is?

Veronica stood up. "Ok, Betty, you need to calm down. Let's leave and go somewhere else." She took me by the shoulders and started guiding me out.

Archie objected. "Don't you want to hear what they're talking about?"

Veronica looked at him in disbelief. "Are you serious right now? This is obviously upsetting Betty!" I shook her off.

"It's fine, V." I managed a small smile. "I'm fine. Archie's right. We should try and listen what they're talking about." I sat back down, composing myself. "How are we going to do that? We're too far."

"Mr. Lodge knows me, and obviously Veronica, but he doesn't know you..." Archie suggested.

"Yeah, but Penny knows who I am." I countered.

"But has she ever seen you?" He asked. I shrugged my shoulders.

"I don't think so, but she knows what I look like. She would probably recognize me."

"It's worth a try."

I walked over to the other side of the restaurant and sat down at the booth in front of where the duo was sitting. I strained to hear them.

"So Charles doesn't have an immediate family?" Hiram asked. Charles? _I_ was his family! What are they talking about?

"Nope. Ran away from the foster care system when he was young." Penny explained.

"And then he met the other one..." The other one? Does he mean Chic? I listened carefully.

"Yes. But they started to get into fights, until one day Charles got sick of him and ran away. I guess Chic took blame for his death or something, and then found him and brought him back to the Cooper house." I felt sick. Charles was alive, all this time, and I never knew. And now he was dead, for good.

"And they took him to the hospital, and then he... ran away?" Hiram questioned. What? Ran away? I felt a glimmer of hope that he could still be alive. What if he was? Where was he hiding? I wanted to know more.

"Yup. The problem is that he doesn't have an immediate family besides the Coopers. Obviously, Ponytail and her mom would choose not to press charges since Jughead's dating the girl." I touched my hair self-consciously. What I was hearing was too good to be true. Could Jughead be free of one crime if I stepped up and said I was his family and didn't want to press charges?

"We have to pretend that Charles has a family; that someone adopted him." Hiram said casually. They couldn't just lie! If they did, the police would take their side instead of mine. I pulled out my phone and started to record.

"Lucky for you, I forged these adoption papers. Meet Charles's new adopted mother." Penny smiled wickedly.

"Good. Show those to the police and say you want to press charges. Then, the Coopers can't do anything." Hiram got up from his seat. I panicked and crawled under the table so that he wouldn't see me. He shook Penny's hand. "Nice doing business with you." He left, Penny following shortly after. I hit the 'Stop recording' button on my phone. I noticed someone else was sitting in the booth behind where Hiram and Penny just were. How did I not notice when he came in? I walked up to the booth and sat across from him.

"Mr. Keller! What are you doing here?" I smiled.

"Oh, hi Betty. Just getting my morning coffee." He said.

I debated telling him what I heard. I decided to, because he probably heard as well. "Did you hear what Hiram and Penny were talking about?" I asked cautiously.

He looked at me, deciding what to say. "Yes..." He said slowly.

"So then you know that everything they're doing is fake! Jughead, Archie. They're being framed!"

He nodded his head. "I know, Betty. I'm working on it." He said, sipping his coffee.

"What do you mean?" Working on it? "I thought you quit the police department."

He finished his coffee. "Nice seeing you, Betty." He got up and walked away, leaving me very confused. I walked back over to my booth with Archie and Veronica. Their faces were anxious.

"Well?" Veronica asked. "What happened?" I took out my phone and hit 'Play'.

"That happened." I said once the recording finished.

"Oh my god! Betty, you have to tell the police!" Veronica exclaimed.

"Since when have they ever helped us?" Archie asked.

"I have an idea..." I said mysteriously.

{-}

I slammed my phone down on the table where my mom was sitting.

My mom looked up from her computer and took her glasses off. "What, Betty?" She asked in a slightly annoyed tone.

"That video," I said, pointing to my phone. "Gives evidence that Jughead was framed."

My mom looked exasperated. "Ok? Why are you showing me? Show the police or something."

"No, I'm not going to show the police, I'm showing you. You have to post it on the online version of the Register, or at least put the url in the hard copy of the newspaper."

"Betty, I'm not going to get in trouble with Hiram Lodge so you can be with your boyfriend. If he's innocent, then he'll win his trial!" My mom went back to typing.

I was desperate. "Charles is alive!"

My mom stopped typing. "What?"

"Just... just watch the video, mom." My voice broke. "Please."

My mom, suddenly in a completely different mood, clicked the play button. The video played out, and my mom covered her mouth.

"Mom, Charles is _alive!_ If we publish this, the police won't have a choice but to drop the charge from Jughead and start an investigation to find Charles!"

I looked at my mom, who was still in shock. She said, "Ok, Betty." And clicked away on her computer before hitting 'Publish'.

The truth was out.

{—}

 _Hiram Lodge and Penny Peabody Forge Adoption Papers To Get Southside Teen Charged With Murder?_

 _Hiram Lodge and Penny Peabody are in Kahoots to get Southside teen Jughead Jones charged with murder. The two were_ _spotted_ _at Pops the other day, discussing their nefarious_ _plans._ _Jughead was charged with the murder of Charles Smith, but it turns out he isn't even dead! He ran away from the hospital. What are local police doing? I can tell you what they're not doing! Launching an investigation to find Mr. Smith. Letting an innocent man go._

 _Penny Peabody even went as far as to forge adoption papers and say that she was the guardian of Mr. Smith so that the Coopers wouldn't come forward and say that they didn't want to press charges! Here the police are, charging two innocent young men with murder instead of arresting the real criminals here._

 _Written by Alice and Betty Cooper_

{-}

"Wow, Betty. I don't even know what to say. Nancy Drew strikes again!" Jughead smiled, despite being behind bars. He had just finished reading the newspaper article.

"If it means one of your charges are dropped, I'd do anything." I smiled. "I've missed you so much. I need you with me." I reached and held his hand.

"Cassidy's family wants to press charges against me and Archie, so there's no getting out of that one." Jughead sighed, and a strand of his dark hair blew upwards. "What if I have to stay here forever?" His eyes became worried.

"I'm not going to let that happen." I looked at him confidently. I wouldn't let that happen if it was the last thing I did. "There's literally no evidence. They don't have anything on you."

Jughead sighed again, this time looking more stressed out and worried. Then, suddenly, his whole demeanor shifted. "Betty, look." He pointed behind me. I turned around, and my eyes widened. Penny Peabody was being led down the hallway, handcuffed. She gave a mean look to us and continued walking.

"They got Penny." I said, much happier.

"Because of you!" Jughead squeezed my hand, and I smiled. "Can you do one more thing for me, Betty?"

"Of course. What is it?"

"My dad... he came in here a couple nights ago and said something about Jellybean and my mom. But... he was... drunk..." Jughead trailed off.

"Oh my god, I thought he quit drinking!"

"Me too...but... I guess not." He looked so heartbroken. I wanted to break through the bars and hug him.

"Do you want me to go see what happened?" I offered.

His face brightened. "Can you?" I nodded my head. "You are too good to me, Betty."

I gave a small smile and shook my head. "It's nothing. I'll see you as soon as I find out what's going on, ok?" He smiled and let go of my hand.

{-}

I knocked on the door to Jughead's trailer. There was no response. I knocked again, but still, no one came to the door. "Hello?" I asked loudly. I knocked a final time. I scanned the trailer. There were a few buckets by the door, and I searched through them until I found an emergency key. I opened the door and stepped in.

Fp was passed out on the couch. Besides that, nothing seemed out of the ordinary except the empty beer bottles scattered around. I shook him awake. "Mr. Jones!" He woke up, jumpy.

"Betty... what are you doing here?" He asked, sitting up.

"I'm here for Jughead, Mr. Jones. He wanted to know what... well, what happened to you." I felt uncomfortable asking about this kind of stuff, but it was for Jughead.

"What happened to me.." He laughed. He waved his beer bottle. "Jellybean and Jughead's mom came home..."

"Where did they go?" I asked, looking around. There was no evidence that anyone else had been living here.

"She left... just like she always does." He said spitefully.

"Mr. Jones, you have to stop drinking! Not only for your sake, but for Jughead's." I grabbed the beer bottle out of his hand and dumped the contents into their sink. "What exactly happened with Jellybean and your ex wife?"

"They came... to take Jughead. They wanted to take _my son_ so I wouldn't let them. We had an argument... Then she left with Jellybean again, saying that was the last time we were going to see each other ever again." He slurred his words.

"Mr. Jones, you need to go to an AA group." I told him. I felt so bad for him. He needed help.

He waved his hand, dismissing the thought.

"Do it for Jughead." I urged him. His face shifted. "He needs you right now."

He nodded his head solemnly. "Fine. I'll do it for Jughead. Anything for my boy..."

{—-}

I visited Jughead right after my meeting with Mr. Jones.

"Jughead... Your mom and Jellybean came back." I told him.

"Really?" His face was excited. "Can I see them? Where are they?"

He was so happy... I didn't want to burst his bubble, but I had to be honest. "They came to take you. But then they found out you were in jail. And even if you weren't in jail, your dad said he was never going to give you up. They got into an argument, and then they left. They went back." I saw the expression on Jughead's face and teared up just from the sight of how sad he looked. "I'm so sorry, Jug."

He shook his head, trying to suppress how he was feeling. "It's fine. I'll see them sometime in the future." He backed up into the depths of his cell.

"Jug..." I didn't know what to say. I wanted to make everything better, I wanted him to be happy.

"Thank you, Betty. Truly. I can always count on you." He smiled weakly. "But you should probably go. I... need a moment to myself."

I nodded my head slowly. I didn't want to leave, but I respected what he wanted. "I'll see you tomorrow, Jug."

"See you soon, Betts." His voice broke.

I walked past his cell, past the other cells. Each step I took, I was further and further away from him. He's my support system. He's the one who I call if I'm worried or scared.

Now, the only times I could see him were during visiting hours, separated by metal bars.


	6. Chapter 6: Veronica

I collapsed onto my bed, tired after a long day. Between Archie and Jughead's trial, Penny getting arrested, and the chaos at the Lodge household... it was too much. I finger-combed my hair, feeling all the knots. I leaned over to my bookshelf and found a book to read. _The Art of War._ Fitting for the days events. I searched through my nightstand drawers to find my reading glasses. I put them on and started to read.

It was about 11:00 pm, and I was 50 pages into the book. All of a sudden, I heard the front door open and a curious voice came with it. I put my book down on my white comforter and listened closely. The door closed quietly. I looked through the keyhole of my door, and saw...

 _Um, Fred Andrews?!_

What was he doing here? If... if my dad walked into the parlor and saw him, I'm scared he would actually kill him.

My mom ushered him in, a smile on her face. What. Was. Going. On? Was she crazy? Did she know the risks she was taking right now? I looked closely.

"Hermione." Fred said, looking down, awkwardly.

"Fred. Please, sit." She motioned for him to sit at the kitchen stools.

Fred sighed. "What am I doing here, Hermione?" He didn't know what he was doing here? So, it was my mom's idea? She had officially lost her mind. If she wants to have a late-night rendezvous with Fred Andrews, then take it to a restaurant.

"Look, Fred... I..." She stumbled on her words. "I know the past few months have been- tense. But I need someone to confide in and I can't talk to anyone else." Um, hello? What about your daughter?

"I- I made a mistake." Hermione said. Fred raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

My mom took out a bottle of champagne and poured two glasses. "Hiram is slowly tearing everyone apart. Veronica... she's been trying to tell me to leave him. And I think she might be right." I listened intently.

"You want to divorce him?" Fred looked genuinely interested in the conversation.

"No. I want to _leave_ him. Get some money, get Veronica and leave." I froze in shock.

"Oh." He seemed very uncomfortable with the conversation, and honestly, I didn't blame him.

"The last straw was this." She slid something across the table. It appeared to be a note of some kind, although my view from the keyhole of a door wasn't that great. Fred took the note and read it aloud.

"Thanks for getting me arrested. Get me out of here, or I'll send someone to hurt your precious girls. -PeNnY" Fred sighed and set the note down.

"He told me nothing about this. If he's willing to put his illegal business before his family, then I'm done." She tore the note up to pieces and threw it away.

"Hermione, I'm so sorry this happened to you. If you need a place to stay, you're always welcome-"

"No. I can find a hotel. But, thank you." They looked at each other for a minute and then... kissed.

I shifted so that my back was against my bedroom door. Oh god. Oh god oh god oh god. What if dad just walked in on them? He would _actually_ kill Fred. Had they had meetings like this before? How oblivious really was I? And the threat... were we actually leaving? I'd gotten so used to this apartment. Were we just going to leave in the middle of the night?

"I'm sorry." I heard my mom say.

"You didn't do anything wrong." Fred said.

"You should go. Veronica and I are leaving tonight." What?!

Fred got up and left. Oh god oh god oh god. I heard footsteps and ran silently to my bed, pretending to be asleep. My mother walked in and shook me.

"Veronica!" She whisper shouted.

"What?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer.

"We're leaving." She started packing my things into a bag.

What should I do? Should I play dumb or tell her I knew what was going on? "Mom. She didn't stop moving, so I grabbed her shoulder. "Mom! I heard you. I heard you and Mr. Andrews talking.." I trailed off.

"Oh, Veronica." She hugged me. "We need to leave. Now."

I broke away from her. "But why? Why do we have to leave _now_?"

She looked at me. "I thought you _wanted_ this!"

My mouth dropped. "I didn't ask to get up at 11:30 at night and scurry off to a mystery hotel! This is insane. _You_ are insane." I stepped away from her.

She reached for me. "It's just the way it has to be. We have to hurry. Please, Veronica, just trust me." I pulled away.

"Since when has that helped? When you said that Fp was an 'old friend' when you were actually paying him owed money? When you forged my signature? When you trusted Hiram and made me trust him too? All those were genius ideas, weren't they?"

My mom looked impatient. "Veronica, we need to leave. Right now. There's no time to argue. Just come on!" She walked out of my room and I decided to follow her because I would rather live with her than my father.

"Where are we even staying?" I asked, watching her pack things up.

"I don't know yet, Veronica. But we can't stay with that threat up in the air. Remember Papa Poutine's son? That could happen again if we don't leave." She told me to grab some bags that were already filled with stuff. I'm assuming it was money or objects of value. I did, and we left, shutting the door. Ok, ok, I know my dad is evil, but some part of me still felt bad about leaving him. The only people he cared about were me and my mom, and we were leaving him. He would be heartbroken in the morning. I felt really guilty.

"Did you... did you like, leave a note or anything?" I asked.

"No." She replied in a tone that meant she didn't want to talk about it. We went down the elevator and walked out the front door. The new doorman wasn't even there. That's great, the person supposed to be defending us wasn't even at their post. Literally anyone could have access to our apartment. I felt the cool breeze as soon as we stepped outside. We started walking in silence. My mom suddenly stopped.

"You almost made me trip! Why did you stop?" I asked, annoyed.

"We have to make a stop." She said.

"Where?" I was cold. I just wanted to be inside.

"The register." She started walking again, and I followed her.

{-]

"Why are we here again?" I crossed my arms, looking at the Register building. It was closed, obviously. "It's not even open."

My mom pulled something out of her pocket. Another note. She taped it onto the door of the building.

"Mom, the wind is going to blow it away." I pointed out, slightly irritated.

She took the message and slid it under the door. "There." She said, contempt.

"Ok, what does it even say?" I was impatient.

"It says that your father framed Archie and that the whole thing was just a scheme to get revenge." My mother explained, scarily calm.

Suddenly I was in a much better mood. "Really? So, Archie might be released?" My mother smiled slyly and shrugged her shoulders. I was practically bouncing up and down. My mom nodded, and started walking again.

"Where are we going?" I asked. "Everything's closed."

"I know that, mija. What place is open 24 hours?"

"Pops."

"Exactly."

{-}

The next morning, we walked around, trying to find a hotel to stay at. But strangely, every single one told us that we couldn't stay there. My mom got annoyed, telling them that we had the money so they had to let us stay.

"We don't _have_ to do anything." They would reply.

Finally, we had one hotel who accepted us.

"Thank god, every other hotel has been rejecting us!" I laughed.

The doorman to the hotel took out a newspaper and handed it to us, looking down at the ground. It was the Register, and it included the note my mom slipped under the door last night. But... the headline was:

 _Rich Wife of Hiram Lodge Blames Husband On Teen's Arrest Because of Marital Problems?_

"Oh no." I said, gripping the paper. Was this written by Mrs. Cooper? I looked to the bottom of the newspaper and saw it was published by _anonymous_. Did the Register have a new employee? I read the rest of the paper, which included an interview of my dad, saying that this morning, me and my mom disappeared, and this _anonymous's_ perspective of what happened, which was apparently that me, the rich and spoiled daughter, wanted her criminal boyfriend to be free, so convinced her mother to write the note. Since my mom, the rich and spoiled wife, was having marital problems, she agreed, lashing out at her husband. This was bad. This was very very bad. My mom shoved the paper aside, grabbed our key, and walked up the stairs to the room. I followed. When we were locked in the room, I got a call from Betty.

"Hey..." She said. "Are you ok? Neither me or my mom wrote the article. We would never do that to your family."

"I know. We just checked into some hotel; the only hotel that would take us. This is insane. Who is anonymous?"

"I have no idea, Ronnie. The Register hasn't taken any new employees. Someone must have broken in."

"That's great. That's just great." I shook my head.

"Did you really leave? Why? What changed your mom's mind?"

"Some threat she got, saying that if Hiram didn't get Penny out of jail, she would send one of her Ghoulies out on me and my mom."

"That's horrible!"

"Mhm. And my mom was with Fred Andrews."

There was a pause on the other end. "Wait, what?" Betty asked, confused.

"I don't know. She was with him right before we left."

"That's... odd..."

"Yeah."

"Well, good news. Since Jughead's only accused of one murder now, the police have decided to give him bail. He obviously can't pay it, it's just too much for me, but could you?" She asked hopefully.

"Betty..."

"I know! I know you're in a time of crisis but can you please do this for me and Jughead?"

I debated with myself. "Fine. Meet at the police station in 10." I hung up.

{-}

I saw Betty, huddled outside the front door of the Police Station. She waved and smiled brightly when she saw me.

"Alright. Let's go free James Dean." I said. Betty laughed and we walked into the station.

"You're back! I would say this is a surprise, but it's really not anymore." Minetta said.

"I'm here to pay Jughead's bail." I threw the bag of money at him. "So here. We're going to go get him now." He didn't even try to stop us. We grabbed the key from him and we walked over to Jughead. When we saw him, I literally stopped. Betty looked horrified. Jughead was slumped over in the corner of his cell. He looked too thin, his hair was dirty and messy, he had bruises all over, and he basically just looked really sick and beaten up. Betty rushed over to him.

"Oh my god, Jughead, what happened?" She asked.

He laughed a pained laugh. "Nothing. Got into a fight with one of the inmates. I stopped eating."

"Why would you stop eating?" I asked.

"What's even the point anymore? I'm going to be stuck in here forever."

Betty grabbed him from where she was. "No, Jug, you're not. Don't talk like that. We're actually here," She took the key and unlocked his door. "To free you."

Jughead sat up and stared at the open door like he had been in there all his life. "What?" He asked, confused. "I have no bail-"

"Veronica paid it. Since one of your charges were dropped, they let you have bail. They didn't tell you?" She asked. He shook his head no, and hugged Betty.

"Everything was so hard without you." He whispered to her. I rolled my eyes. Sweet. So sweet. A 'Thank you' for paying the bail would have been nice.

I cleared my throat. "You're welcome."

He got up and came over to me. "Thank you, Veronica. Truly. It must have been expensive. I owe you one. Really."

I waved my hand. "It's fine."

We walked back to the front entrance of the station, and I carelessly tossed the keys in the general direction of Minetta. I braced myself, because I knew that as soon as I stepped out of those doors, I would be the "Spoiled rich girl who wanted to free her criminal boyfriend". But that was okay. I could handle it.

I was Veronica Lodge, after all.


End file.
